Spartans go 2-0 against the Porirua Giants

Week
three of the 2011-12 season was a match up to decide who would stand top of the
table after one complete round of matches. Both teams had beaten the Wellington
Wolves and were looking for a big game to get an early head start toward making
the Capital Bowl. It was a fine but windy day and after a short delay to the
kickoff, the Spartans won the toss and chose to receive. After a short kick
return by Scott Thomson, Ese Amosa picked up where he left off against the
Wolves the week before with some dominant runs to kickstart the team. The
Spartans opening drive stalled though as a third down pass was deflected off
Wide Receiver Colin Leilua-Toilolo’s hands and straight into the waiting arms
of one of the Giants Linebackers. The Giants started off showing their
intentions toward winning this game with a long run right through the teeth of
the Spartan defence. This defensive lapse seemed to spark the Spartans into
action and they got straight back to being the disciplined defensive team that
shut out the Wolves the week before. An early sack by Ian Vena helped shut down
the Giants opening drive and got the ball back in the offences hands. This time
all of Amosa’s efforts bore some fruit as a solid drive ended with the big
Fullback running into the end zone on a tough run for his third touchdown of
the season to open the scoring. As he did last week, he followed his score up
with a blockbusting run up the middle for the two point conversion to put the
Spartans ahead 8 points to nil.

The
defence went back to work on the ensuing possession and were really starting to
dominate their opposition. After getting his team’s only interception in his
debut game against the Wolves, Linebacker Ina Sione soon got his second
turnover of the season when he recovered a fumble after Ian Vena knocked the
ball loose. This change of possession occurred near halfway so the Spartans
were in great field position to add to their lead. They found themselves
immediately deep in the red zone courtesy of a long catch and run from Colin
Leilua-Toilolo who made a great catch on a well thrown ball from Quarterback Jonny
Connor. Ian Vena followed that up with a few tough runs to get the team close
to the goal line before Amosa came back in to score his second touchdown as he
ran in almost untouched on a short run and give his side a 14 point advantage.
The two point conversion was unsuccessful and this was the way the score would
stay as the half time whistle blew and both teams went away to discuss what had
happened and come up with their second half game plans.

For the Spartans it was
to come out and start the new half with renewed aggression but to stick with
what had worked in the first half. The defence had been extremely dominant and
the fact that they were going so well on that side of the ball meant that the
offence could take a few more chances to increase their lead. With the weather
remaining fine, there were no excuses for the Spartans not to put some more
points on the board and put the Giants away early when they got back on the
field.

The
Spartan captains went out on the field to choose which direction they would be
kicking off and came off the field with puzzled looks on their faces as the
Giants bizarrely choose to kickoff again and give possession immediately back
to the Hutt Valley team. The offence got their chance to put the game away
early with good field position after the kick return, but they seemed to be a
bit out of sync as there was a fumbled snap and then Connor threw his second
interception of the day. As they had done all day, the defence came out and
pressured the Giants, and they immediately caused another fumble that was again
recovered by Sione. This time the offence marched down field on an impressive
drive that was highlighted by a beautiful one handed catch by Slotback Jed
Peniata that gave the Spartans a first and goal from the five yard line. Ian
Vena had a couple of runs that left the ball about half a yard shy of another 6
points and Amosa was sent back in to finish the job and put the game away. He
never got the chance though as the centre exchange was fumbled and the ball
popped out behind a pile of players in the middle of the field and was
recovered by the Giants. It was returned down the left sideline and as the
cover defence tried to get across, they were all a step too slow and the Giants
looked to have completely reversed their fortunes with their first score of the
game. As the runner approached the end zone, he looked back to see a flag on
the play and a possible touchdown was negated by a penalty for a block in the
back against one of the Spartans chasers.

This bought the ball all the way back
to their 40 yard line and the Giants would have to start a new drive from
there. The penalty was a big break for the Spartans as it meant that the Giants
had to try and score against their tough defence and so far that had been an
impossible task. It continued that way as the Spartans continued to completely
shut down anything that the Giants offence tried to through at them. Whether it
was power runs, quick passes or gadget plays like receiver reverse passes, the
defence had an answer to every question posed to it by the Giants. The Spartans
soon got the ball back but their second half offensive struggles continued as
there were more fumbled snaps that put paid to any sort of momentum they were
trying to build. Following this turnover the defence regained possession as a
fumbled handoff to their running back gifted the ball to Henry Tauti who
recovered the fumble near the line of scrimmage. With the game moving into the
fourth quarter and still having a two score lead, the Spartans moved Peniata
back to Quarterback but the results were the same as he heaved a third down
pass downfield only for it to be picked off by the ball hawking Giant secondary
once again. With time running out, the Porirua team had to take some more shots
at long passes to give themselves a chance, but Safety Chris Toms made an
athletic play on one of these deep balls and got the interception that iced the
game for the Hutt Valley men. A scoreless second half for the second week in a
row left the final score at 14 points to nil and the Spartans at the top of the
AFW points table, one game ahead of the Porirua Giants and two ahead of the
Wolves.

Special
mentions go to the two players of the day. On offence one of the big rookie
lineman who led the way for Amosa’s big statistical day, Esekia Tanu was
rewarded for an aggressive and dominant display up front. The defensive Player
of the Day went to another rookie, Ina Sione. He has three turnovers in his
first two games, and he got the medal for a defensive effort that included two
fumble recoveries and a team leading 7 tackles on the day. It wasn’t just the
quantity of tackles either, as every one of them showed good technique and were
definitely felt by the opposition.